Hawke Building, University of South Australia

Conference Summary

The University of South Australia's Property Team hosted the 18^th Pacific Rim Real Estate Conference In Adelaide from the 14^th to 18^th of January 2012. The conference theme of Property: Nexus of Place & Space was timely as people begin to understand that property finance and economics on their own do not ensure projects succeed.  Projects need people to commit, use and enjoy the development in order to succeed. The conference keynote speakers were mainly industry practitioners who spoke to the theme. These included Andrew McAnulty CEO Mission Australia, Gilbert Rochecouste Managing Director Village Well, Natalya Boujenko Director Intermethod, Timothy Horton is the South Australian Commissioner for Integrated Design, Martin Haese General Manager of the Rundle Mall Management Authority (RMMA) and David Smith Director Residential Energy Efficiency Team Renewable and Energy Efficiency Division DCCEE. Our keynote academic on the topic was Professor Stanley McGreal Director of the Built Environment Research Institute University of Ulster.

Many of the papers and presentations built on from last year's conference theme of sustainability. In order to accommodate the 140 papers submitted from 170 delegates from fifteen countries there was up to five parallel sessions through conference which offer red delegates ample choice in terms of topics and special interests.

The social aspects of the conference were varied this year to include two innovations that hopefully other will consider including in future conferences. First there was an informal BBQ on Saturday night to encourage delegates to attend the PhD colloquia and ensure that the new PhD students were welcomed before presenting on Sunday. The second innovation was a Tasting SA event in which delegates were able to taste local South Australian cordials, meats, seafood and fruits and other local produce. South Australian beer, wine and cheese were also available for tasting.

Prior to the conference dinner, delegates had the opportunity to have pre-dinner canapés and drinks with Pandas at the Adelaide zoo and learn about their diet, mating habits and other factors with a presentation from a Panda keeper. The conference dinner was held in the zoo with delegates able to view some of the animals from their tables.

Valerie Kupke hosted the woman's breakfast which made a return to this conference after a few years absence. The API met with course directors for a breakfast meeting this year rather than during a lunch time.

This conference case competition brought six teams of undergraduate's student to the conference These included University of Auckland , Bond University, Curtin University, University of South Australia, University of Southern California and University of the Sunshine Coast. The competition involves teams of 4 members each who are provided with a real-life real estate related case study. The teams have 5 hours to carry out an in depth analysis and prepare a proposal addressing the key issues of the business. Each team then makes a presentation on their strategy and is given the opportunity to answer and defend themselves during question time with a judging panel of academic and industry practitioners.

This Conference would not have gone ahead without the efforts of Peter Rossini, Valerie Kupke and Sharon Yam who covered the convenors absences for leave and long service leave. I would like to thank these people and the many other volunteers led by Peta Page & Vanessa Lowe who helped in planning and making the day to day running of the conference a success.

The conference sponsors ensured that the conference was successful. Conference sponsors included the University of South Australia's School of Commerce, Property Council of Australia (SA Division), Department of Transport, Energy & Infrastructure, Government of South Australia , RICS, API, Estate Master, Gooseberry Hill Farm and Toop & Toop .